Hi Starchasers,

As ‘New Horizon’s’ nears Pluto – here are some links to ‘The First Mission to The Last Planet’. My favourite observations on The ‘New Horizon’s’ mission are these:

When the mission lifted off in 2006 Pluto was still considered a Planet.

Pluto was named by a 15 year old school girl named Venetia.

Clyde Tombaugh’s (the discoverer of Pluto) ashes are onboard the probe (I’m not making this up).

When the mission lifted off in 2006, Pluto had one known moon, Charon.  As of today, it has five moons.

Here are the links:

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/12/08/nasa-new-horizons-spacecraft-wakes-up-for-pluto-encounter-in-2015/

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/index.php

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20150501

http://www.nasa.gov/pluto042915

Clear Skies,

James MacWilliam

RASC – Sunshine Coast Centre

Starchasers.ca

https://www.youtube.com/user/Coastastronomy/videos